Do you think they know who I am?? I have shopped a burger joint many times in the past. Today, the food was delivered to my table, there was an employee who never stopped cleaning the tables, counters, and sweeping the floors!. The manager knows my name from previous shops and ( she got it once from my credit card) and she came over to talk to me.
I never divulge that I am a shopper but I get extraordinary service.
Now it is true currently that I have a bum foot and am using a cane and have a boot, but this has happened before.
Also yesterday, I did a revealed gas station and the attendant recognized me and offered to take all the pictures for me! I do this shop monthly. I love this type of service!!

If this is a 5 Guys they probably know that you are the shopper.

I am sure they do but I never say anything and neither do they, It works both ways, They get a good report and I get my lunch.

Love their burgers.

"I am sure they do but I never say anything and neither do they, It works both ways, They get a good report and I get my lunch."

And the client gets....what?

A few years ago I had to have a torn meniscus repaired in my knee that locked it up. The surgery had to be scheduled almost immediately due to not being able to use my leg. I had several gas station audits scheduled and completed them on crutches. It was tough, but the guys were so very nice and helpful. To this day, some ask me how my knee is when I return there. People can be nice..have faith.

And yes, if it's 5 Guys, they probably know.

@Sandy Shopper wrote:

"I am sure they do but I never say anything and neither do they, It works both ways, They get a good report and I get my lunch."

And the client gets....what?

The client gets exactly what he's paying for: a report showing a scorecard for service rendered to a customer on a particular day at a particular time. Regardless of whether the employees "know" a customer is a mystery shopper or they do not, service is rendered. Why is service great on a particular day? An employee feels great and gives great service? An employee feels crappy and gives crappy service? The employees have not been trained properly and do not meet the service goals the client has set? The employees are so well trained they meet all the service goals the client has set? The employees have figured out who the shopper is but have not said "We KNOW who you are?" Until such time as the employees state that they have identified the shopper, there is no way of knowing for sure. At this point, Insight does not know for sure and there would be no reason to not shop the location. Now, the client might identify that all Insight's reports are outstanding and ask for a different shopper, but that would be the client's call. Or, the the client may question the manager or view the interactions on video. But at this point Insight is giving the client what he is paying for.

I wouldn't sweat it. I'm pretty sure there are at least two clients I regularly shop that know or are at least suspicious that I'm the shopper. I just accept their great service graciously and report it.

The key point of mystery shopping is that the shopper be ANONYMOUS. If the mystery shopper is known at the location, the anonymity is out the window. The shopper is NOT getting the same service as an unknown customer, so the report is skewed. Eventually, the client thinks all is well and decides mystery shopping is an expense that is no longer necessary.

BTW, I saw one really big ms company go under because their route shoppers were too obvious from month to month. Exactly as I said, a large client canceled their contract with the ms company because they were getting glowing reports from shoppers who were known to be shoppers at the client's locations. In the meantime, the customers who were NOT shoppers were getting mediocre service at best.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 12:10AM by Sandy Shopper.

@teriraia wrote:

If this is a 5 Guys they probably know that you are the shopper.

Why esp. the case with FG?

@Sandy Shopper wrote:

The key point of mystery shopping is that the shopper be ANONYMOUS. If the mystery shopper is known at the location, the anonymity is out the window. The shopper is NOT getting the same service as an unknown customer, so the report is skewed. Eventually, the client thinks all is well and decides mystery shopping is an expense that is no longer necessary.

BTW, I saw one really big ms company go under because their route shoppers were too obvious from month to month. Exactly as I said, a large client canceled their contract with the ms company because they were getting glowing reports from shoppers who were known to be shoppers at the client's locations. In the meantime, the customers who were NOT shoppers were getting mediocre service at best.

My natural instincts are to agree with this line of thinking, SS.

Although, I have occasionally heard of exceptions. There was one poster who mentioned that the client, itself, asked him to return and reshop (I believe it was a cruise/resort shop) a project even if he would be known as the shopper. I think part of the rationale was that it would still "train" the associates to act a certain way via practice/habit.

One problem, too, is if there aren't any shoppers in a locale other than the known one. In that case, maybe the only person able to do the job is going to have to be known.

@Sandy Shopper wrote:

"I am sure they do but I never say anything and neither do they, It works both ways, They get a good report and I get my lunch."

And the client gets....what?

The client gets to pay the employees a bonus as they got a good report.

You make a good point, Capurato!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2019 07:43PM by Sandy Shopper.

5G has almost always been good here. We generally go there as a pair and I am the one who goes to the counter while my partner collects the peanuts and gets us a table. I have seen meal delivery to tables when we were not given it and when we were. I have seen the manager 'lean on his broom' to chat with a table of guests, whether it was us or not. I have seen long time staff not greet us or greet us mentioning it has been a long time since they have seen us and chat. I have seen new staff greet us or not greet us beyond their required interactions. But I have seen both old and new staff greet others and chat. What I am saying is that we are treated as any other guests and in a thoughtful way.

My conclusion is that shop or not shop, every time I have been in the locations they have been almost impeccably clean and fresh. Shop or not shop the staff is friendly to all comers as well as kindly and thoughtful with each other. The food is mostly uniformly good. The staff is deserving of the bonuses almost every time I have visited, whether I am on a shop or not on a shop. Does it matter whether I am truly 'Anonymous'? They are obviously not 'putting on a show' because I stepped through the doorway.

I was dropped from the program for more than a year because I had been 'identified' as the shopper. I can only assume that the identification came from a location that was poorly managed and the staff quarrelsome. They did not get the kind of report that would give them a bonus they definitely did not deserve. That staff is long gone and I got reinstated to the program. My sense is that smart crews do what they are supposed to do and don't concern themselves whether they are being shopped or not as long as the reports are fair.